"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Try this simple technique to get rid of stress. Its based on the idea that mental upset manifests in the body by tightening muscles. Conversely, tight muscles can also give you mental stress.

- Find the tension in your body- Focus on it for 30 seconds- Breathe in deeply and slowly- Exhale your breath all at at once- Repeat until the tension is gone

Learning is remembering. I read about this technique in The Power of Now awhile ago and found that it works. But when I got stressed by a couple of events in the last few days, did I remember to use it? Not for quite awhile unfortunately.

But a few minutes ago something caused me to remember. I focussed on the tension in my body, did the breathing and the stressed feeling dissapated within minutes.

I mean, I did not sleep much last night over these two events. I tried meditating but my mind kept returning to these But now I feel much, much better.

Give it a shot next time you get upset about something. Awareness of how stress manifests in your body is a skill that will serve you well.

If you do find a particular set of muscles is always tight, consider massage to eliminate trigger points or adhesions. Also, follow that up with exercise and stretching to keep it healthy.